


The Newest Pup of Kaer Morhen

by sebi



Series: Short Witcher Fics [2]
Category: The Witcher (TV), Wiedźmin | The Witcher - All Media Types
Genre: Baby witcher, Father-Son Relationship, Parent Vesemir (The Witcher), Short & Sweet, Unbeta'd, baby Geralt, geralt comes to kaer morhen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-13
Updated: 2020-08-13
Packaged: 2021-03-05 20:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 943
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25881166
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sebi/pseuds/sebi
Summary: Geralt's first night at Kaer Morhen.
Relationships: Geralt z Rivii | Geralt of Rivia & Vesemir
Series: Short Witcher Fics [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1880065
Comments: 7
Kudos: 81





	The Newest Pup of Kaer Morhen

**Author's Note:**

> This is just another little ficlet idea I had. This wasn't proofread by anyone else, so all mistakes are my own. Enjoy!

By the time Geralt came to him, Vesemir was already what the normal human world would call ancient. He was handed the small boy and was told he was five years old and his name was Geralt. Vesemir was, for lack of a better word, shocked that this tiny boy was five years old. He didn’t look like he was any older than two or three, clearly a runt. Geralt looked up at the greying wolf with fear in his teary green eyes. The little boy held a ratty blue blanket in his small, pudgy hands, and he sucked on the corner of it. He was silent. He didn’t speak a word, even when Vesemir spoke softly to him. He just sucked on the corner of his blanket, the tears finally spilling from his eyes.

Slowly, Vesemir carried the boy back up to the keep. He brushed a comforting hand through the boy’s wild red curls and whispered sweet words in his ear.

“It’s going to be alright, Geralt. You’re safe. I’ll keep you safe.”

Geralt didn’t understand why he was taken away from his mother and given to this strange man. He didn’t trust this man, but he didn’t have anyone else to trust.

The first night Geralt was at Kaer Morhen, he cried the whole night in the room with the other young boys. He was the smallest of them, and the youngest. His sobs could be heard throughout the keep, and the older wolves grumbled and groaned. Finally, around three in the morning, one of the witchers who was newly on the Path came into Vesemir’s room.

“You need to silence the damn pup. None of us can sleep. He’s been crying all night.”

Vesemir sighed and stood up, placing his book aside. “I’ll do what I can. He’s scared. Have some sympathy for him. I remember that you, too, cried your whole first night here. It’s not uncommon.”

The other wolf grumbled and left the room, annoyed at the fact that Vesemir was turning it on him. The old wolf was too kind to the pups, in his opinion.

Vesemir came into the room where Geralt was lodged with other boys, and the other pups looked at him as he passed their beds, hopeful that he would take the crying pup away so they could sleep. Silently, Vesemir picked Geralt up out of his bed, cradling the small wolf in his arms.

“Shh… it’s okay, pup. We’re going to go back to my room. You’re safe.”

“Mama!” Geralt wailed. “Where’s mama?”

Vesemir’s heart broke into a million pieces with those few words. Of course the boy missed his mother. She had given him away suddenly, left him on the road. “She’s not here right now, but I’ll take care of you,” Vesemir promised, rocking Geralt in his arms. He reached down and grabbed the boy’s blanket and put it into his arms. Geralt took it immediately and started suckling on the corner. Vesemir looked to the pup beside Geralt’s bed. “Did he eat at all today?” he asked.

The boy shook his head. “He would not come down for meals, sir.”  
Vesemir sighed. “Thank you for telling me.” So that was part of the problem. The pup was hungry, tired, and felt abandoned.

The old wolf decided he needed to address the hunger part first. He took Geralt down to the kitchen. Because they sometimes brought in pups who had just barely been weened off of breastmilk, they had a few bottles for them. Vesemir did not know the status of Geralt’s feeding, and given that the boy was so upset right now, he figured a bottle would be best. With Geralt cradled in one arm, he prepared a bottle of warm milk for him. Then he found a spot in a comfortable chair by the fire in the main hall where the witchers gather for entertainment and conversation. He placed the little boy in his lap and tipped the bottle to his lips. Geralt wouldn’t let go of his blanket to accept the milk.

“Pup, you have to take the blanket out of your mouth to have the bottle, sweetheart,” he whispered gently, putting the bottle aside to take the blanket.

Geralt’s grip on his blanket tightened. He did not let go of it. He refused to let this man take his blanket, the one thing he still had from home.

Vesemir tried again, tugging at the blanket, but all he got in return from Geralt was a little growl, probably the cutest growl Vesemir had ever heard. The old wolf chuckled softly. “Geralt, you need to have some food. Please just take the blanket out of your mouth. You don’t have to give it to me. I promise. You can still hold onto it.”

The prospect of still being able to hold onto his blanket got Geralt to slowly take the blanket from his mouth, staring suspiciously at Vesemir the whole time. Vesemir took this opportunity to slip the bottle between the pup’s lips. Geralt suckled on the teat of the bottle eagerly, almost as if he were just now realising how hungry he was.

As the bottle emptied, Geralt’s eyes started to slip shut. Vesemir removed the empty bottle from Geralt’s mouth and placed it on the table beside the chair. Judging by the slowed heartbeat and breathing, he surmised that Geralt had finally fallen asleep. He knew it would be a long process of getting Geralt to trust him, but Vesemir was fully prepared to become the boy’s father. He hadn’t had a pup this young to take care of by himself for so long.


End file.
